Teen pizza party ends in stabbing and assault charge

Georgina Mitchell

A small group of schoolfriends had gathered in Five Dock at 7.30 on a Friday night to drink lemon squash, listen to music and celebrate a friend's 14th birthday.

But by 8.40, a gatecrasher had allegedly stabbed a 17-year-old partygoer, leaving him in a critical condition in hospital, and another youth the same age had been hit in the face with a glass.

Both teenagers were taken to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where the first remained in a stable condition on Sunday afternoon.

''Dude, it was my party … there's blood all over my backyard,'' the 14-year-old female host said on Twitter nearly 24 hours later.

''Some guy got stabbed. None of that was meant to happen.''

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But pictures posted on social media at the weekend show the party was not as low-key as it seemed - it was a ''BYO'' affair, with guests urged ''don't punch on''.

An online invitation for the party, to celebrate the birthday of the 14-year-old and another girl, advised attendees: ''BYO; don't get stoned; smoke outside; don't punch on in the house and smash bottles, there are bins for a reason.''

Neighbours reported that 15- and 16-year-old guests yelled and smashed bottles in the usually quiet street. ''There was just lights flashing, sirens and cops up and down the street,'' said a neighbour, Ed White.

Although the event was invite-only on Facebook, a picture of the invitation was posted by the 14-year-old host to Twitter at 3.11 on Friday afternoon to 11,500 followers. Just over five hours later the gatecrasher allegedly struck.

The invitation, which includes an explicit picture, paints a different picture to what the grandmother of the 14-year-old girl told Fairfax Media about the gathering: that a handful of guests, mainly from a nearby high school, were sipping soft drink and eating pizza.

''She just tried to have a party with pizza, and all she bought was lemon squash and strawberry sarsaparilla," Christine Varricchio said on Saturday.

Dude, it was my party ... there's blood all over my backyard.

As the case gathered media attention, the girl at the centre of the party seemed stunned.

She posted short videos of news updates on sharing platform Vine and compared her party to Project X, a 2012 film in which a high school party spirals out of control. She posted a picture of lemon squash and pizza in a fridge, with the caption 'There's your f--king crime scene.''

A 16-year-old has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray over the alleged stabbing. He has been released on bail and will face Parramatta Children's Court this month.

Police have urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.